NGD: Crackle Strat'87

[Catharpin]

I love this guitar.
It was in need of a little loving when I got it.
It had a Fernandes sustainer installed. Luckily it was professionally installed and I was able to sell off the parts for ~150 which more than paid for the restoration parts.
I used an original J90c and oversize ring to replace the humbucker that was hacked into there. IT looks and sounds right now. I replaced the Fernandes driver with an original J200.
I added a kill switch and coil split to fill in the extra holes. Polished the frets and cleaned it up. The JT-6 is in excellent condition.
The crackle is black over a silver flake. It is so cool in person, the black looks metallic. The back looks like a typical crackle while the front has big cracks, makes a cool effect with the flake underneath.
Plays and sounds great, especially unplugged. Very heavy and resonant. LOVE IT>









All fixed up and ready to roar!

[RR4LIFE]

NICE! Congrats man!

[Grandturk]

Happy new guitar day! That's pretty cool.

[Catharpin]

I have a companion for this one coming this week!

[kamanda]

Nice! Weird looking crackle for sure but I like it

[Johnnyryche]

Very nice. Congrats!

[lefty]

I love it! How is the truss installed? I don't see a skunk stripe, so I'm assuming it's done
a la EBMM? Great paint job too, BTW...

[Axewielder]

Awesome! So it has a functioning Jackson electronics system?

[Catharpin]

I love it! How is the truss installed? I don't see a skunk stripe, so I'm assuming it's done
a la EBMM? Great paint job too, BTW...

Regular truss rod at nut AFIK. The one skunk stripe strat I own has the wheel but rest are all at the nut.

Awesome! So it has a functioning Jackson electronics system?

No, it was modded to have the Fernandes sustainer in it.
I removed that and put it back to factory stock spec with the exception of the middle pickup. There I have the JBJr.
I filled the extra holes from the sustainer switches with a coil split for the mid and a kill switch button.

I really can't say enough about how great this one sounds. It's heavy and so resonant, it chimes.
IMO this is really the root of where Jackson started (Charvel Strats), these are some of the finest guitars they made, maybe from so much experience?
RR and subsequent neck thru models may have been the first with the Jackson name but if he wasn't making these strats to begin with it would never have happened.

[Axewielder]

It would be cool to track down a JE-1500 for that guitar. It would work perfectly with that control layout and make use of the battery box. Also it would wake up that J-200 (and you'd need to find one more of those). Those JE-1500's are a bitch to find, though.

[jeff9beck]

Score! I like the silver base rather than the white on the pro version black crackle dinkys..

[straycat]

I love it! How is the truss installed? I don't see a skunk stripe, so I'm assuming it's done
a la EBMM? Great paint job too, BTW...

Jacksons in that era didn't have skunk stripes. The truss rod is installed before the fingerboard is glued on.

[dmoney666]

OMG, I love that. I hate you.

[Catharpin]

I did a little reading on crackle finishes, both guitars and furniture. it seems the thicker the top crackle coat the bigger the cracks. You can see the heavy to light transition on the back of this one. They were either doing a big crackle and ran out on the back or meant to do a regular crackle and sprayed a bit heavy on the front, adjusting as they finished. I am guessing the latter, either way I love the unique finish.